A $2.5 billion package to overhaul aged care, focused primarily on residential care, is at the core of Labor’s pledge for the sector.
However the home care sector stands to benefit from the opposition’s pledge to support and fund any Fair Work Commission ruling on better pay for aged care workers if elected.
Unions are seeking pay rises of 25 per cent for aged care workers, including the home care workforce.
“We’ll support the workers’ call for better pay at the Fair Work Commission, and a Labor government will fund the outcome of this case,” Opposition leader Anthony Albanese said in his budget reply speech last week.
“If we want higher standards of care – we need to support higher wages for our carers.”
Labor’s measures also include an undertaking to give the Aged Care Safety Commissioner new powers.
Mr Albanese said the pandemic and the royal commission had confirmed the aged care system was in crisis and Labor would bring the principle of universal, affordable and quality service to the sector.
‘Disappointing’
Georgia Downes, COO Australia and NZ of home care provider Home Instead, says Labor’s proposals are great for the residential sector but recommendations for increased transparency and oversight were already being implemented for home care.
“It seems (Mr Albanese) is a little out of touch with what’s already happening,” she told Community Care Review.
“So it was a bit disappointing that there isn’t that focus on making home care better than what the incumbent government is doing.”
Council on the Ageing (COTA) Australia, the peak consumer body, welcomed Labor’s support for a ‘tough cop on the beat’ in aged care, with increased powers and penalties.
“Civil penalties if providers punish someone for complaining and criminal penalties for breaching a General Duty of Care demonstrates that Labor is taking seriously the neglect reported by the royal commission,” CEO Ian Yates said.
“This industry needs to get rid of its far too many bad eggs and lift the standards for all – something its peak bodies have consistently failed to do, so we welcome the industry regulator having the strongest powers.”
Mr Yates called on Labor, and all parties, to commit to the implementation of the Royal Commission recommendations and timeline.
“In particular, we look forward to hearing the opposition’s policies to support the more than one million older Australians receiving care and support in their home, including home care package recipients, who due to the accelerated rollout of packages by the government, now exceed the number of people in residential care,” he said.
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